Can steamer



April 26,1927. Y

' J. COOK CAN STEAMER Filed Sept. 24, 1925 2 Sheets-Shen jl J. COOK I GAN STEAMER Filed sept. 24, 1925 2 swam-shea@ 2 Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

entren stares tenez f ice. l

entre r JOSEPH COOK OF C IICAGO, ILLINOISfASSIGNOR TO BLUE VALLEY CREAMERY COM- PANY, O1 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

CAN STEAMER.

Application filed september 24, 1925. serial Nc. 58,464.

When cans ol' milk are received at a creamery they are emptied into a suitable tank or other receptacle and then the empty' cans are sterilized and returned. A substantial amount o l` milk or crealn adheres to the interior'o the can and the cap and this milk and cream is usually wasted. ln a largo creamery handling many cans of milk the total of this waste is quite large. Various forms of mechanisms have heretofore been devised for this purpose. lt is the object ol my invention to provide novel, improved means ol simple and etlicient character for recoveryl of the milk and cream which is otherwise wasted.

More sp -cilically the object ol' my inven- .tion is to provide a supporting structure constitutcd by the pipes themselves through which the steam passes.' and which may be placed on top of a tank and uponwhich may be set a-can with its neck down, the act of setting the can in place, causing a jet ol' steam to enter the can and remove the milk and cream from the walls thereof, whiclh will fall into the tank. Means is also provided to support the cap of thecan in position ltobc acted upon by another jet Aol' steam Afor removing th-e milk and cream from the surface thereof. and this also will l`all into the. tank.

ln the accompanying drawings in wl `eh I have shown a selected embodiment of my invention; A

Fig. l is a perspective view ot one unit of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2---2 ol Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the top oll a tank showing a battery of units embodyingmy invention in place thereon.

Fig. 4 is a plan view ot` the top of a tank showing another arrangement ot' units each embodying my invention.

Fig. 5 is a Section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1l and 2. the numeral l V designates a supporting member. which is -which will presently be described.

lproperly space the various units. Each pipe 'i l is' preferably closed at one end by a cap b and is provided lat its otherend with an elbow t) closed by a plug lO.

Disposed within the pipe l is a steam pipe ll which passes through an aperture in the plug it) and is connected to any source of' steam under pressure. Admission of steam to theI pipe ll is controlled by means of a suitable valve l2, which ma' be controlled by a lever 123 pivoted on a racket ttl and having one end 1.3 engaging the valve stem lo. llpon depression ol the end t5 ot' the lever llt the valve 12 will be opened aml upon raising ol the end 15 the valve stem willbe urged upwardly byl means ot' a coil spring 17 to close the valve.

Connected to the other end 1b Otl the lever lil by a link it) is an actuating lever 2t) pivotally mounted upon the pipe. 1. This piv' otal mounting may be. readily effected providing a T eonnectionlz'l in the pipe .l` and closing one leg thereof with a suitable plug on which may be secured the pivot Beyond the pivot 2:2. the lever 20 is depressed as at .23 so as to pass beneath the pipes-l and its other end 24 is'raised to an elevation which is suitable for a purpose A suitable nozzle :25 is provided at the end ot' the pipe ll and surrounded by a easing 2li to protect the nozzle `from damage 90 due to careless handling of the cans.l This nozzle :25 is ol a proper height and has a plurality of apertures :2T therein so disposed as to thoroughly spray the interior ot' a can 28 with live steam when such a can is placed in the position sho`w1i-in `dotted lines in Fig. 2. 1ty is plain that such a can rests upon the edge :'29 of its neck upon the supporting pipes l and 5 and when it is so placed the edge ot' the neck will engage the end 24 of the lever 2t) and thus canse the valve 12 to open and admit steam to the nozzle'Q. A second nozzle 30 is disposed above the cross connection 2 and is surrounded by a casing 2&1 oltr proper diameter to receive a cap 32 of a milk can. It'will be obvious that'A when the valve 12 is openedA by the placing of :1.01m E28 inpos'tion steam will pass through both l'oo site

of the nozzles 25 and 30,'thus cleaning the milk and cream from the walls of both can and cap.l This milk-and lcream will drop into the tank over which the supporting pipes and nozzles are placed and ivill consequently be recovered. At-the, saine time the interior of the cans and caps `will be thoroughly sterilized. y

In Fig'. 3 I have shown one arrangement of the .various units in a battery wherein the transverse pipes 5 are-connected'at 6. An-

other arrangement is shown in VFig. 4 wherein the steam is supplied' to the ends of the tank rather than to thesides, as shown in Fig.' 3. ln this latter arrangement there are provided tivo longitudinal supporting I, pipesI 33 and 34 connected to transverse pipes'35, 36 and A37 by suitable cross coniiections` In this arrangement the nozzles* 38 vand 39 receive their steam from the pipe l 40, the supply being controlled by the va'lve 4l; the nozzies 4:2 and 43 receivetheir steam through the pipe 44 coiitrolled by the Valve 45.;- and the nozzle 46 and 47 receive'their steam through the pipe 48, the supplybeing controlled by the valve 49. The Valves 41, and 49 are `controlled respectively by llevers 50, 5l 4and 52identical in principle and operation with the lever 20.

I have shown the unitsas being connected together and secured permanently fo the top of the tanks by any suitable means suoli as U-bolts 53, but it is of course obvious that they may be detachedat will from-the tanks and may if .desired be made portable.

It willbe -noted that the parts vconstituting my present improvementare separate from and readily removable bodily from the tank or receptacle, into which the milk and cream is deposited, andtliat the pipes are supported by` the top of said receptacle.l

Fronithe above it will he .apparent that @have provided a novel and improved means .for recovering milk and cream which is normally left adhering to the surfaces of a milk can and its cap'. The device may be readilyJ applied witlia minimum of labor and expense by a plumber or steamitter and by the use of standard parts, Moreover, the invention permits of a veriy flexible arrangement` in that any required number of units may-be employed and a wide variety of arrangements is possible as exemplified in Figs.

' 3 and 4. Other arrangements will no doubt tacles.

suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

am aware that changesin the form, con.

struction and arrangement of'parts may be made without departing from the spirit and tending into the. first-named pipe and con-v nected n'itli a source of steam, and a syse teni ot' pivoted connected levers connecting said valve and .actuated by the Weight of said lastnaiiiod receptacle for opening and closing said valve. u

2. Can steaming means comprising a vsteam pipe foi-'ieii'iovable support' upon a receptacle, `and lateral branches from said pipe, said pipe and branches provided AWith upwardly directed nozzles, a pipe entering the scope. f

said steaii'i pipe connected to said nozzles and adapted for connection with a source of' steam, a pivoted lever forl controlling the flow of steam through said nozzles, and a pi voted lever connected with the iirst-named 'lever and having one end' mounted for actuation by 'thc Weight of a can placed over a nozzle.

3. Can steaming means comprising a steam pipe ltor removable support upon a receptacle, said pipeI being provided -with an upwardly directed nozzle and lateral branches connected lwith tliefirst named pipe and having upstanding iiozzlcs,1tlie1 f latter receiving steam from saidsteain pipe,

thesaid branches adapted to form al supi port .i'oi' the receptacles to be treated, la pipe entering the first-named pipe and lconnected with a sourte of steam, the lateral branches and iiozzleslreceiving steam therefrom, Aa valve to control the flow of steam through said branchesv and nozzles, andk a series of pivoted. connected levers to control' 'said valve; the said levers being actuated to open4 the valve by the Weight of the said recepv4'Josnrii cook. 

